I also informed Antony on Tatra trucks: Jabalpur MP

Bhopal, April 4 (IANS) Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Jabalpur Rakesh Singh said Wednesday he had informed Defence Minister A.K. Antony that cheaper and better quality trucks were being produced in Jabalpur and there was no need to purchase the Tatra vehicles at double the price.

Singh alleged that on May 12, 2008, he had written to Antony that 6×6 trucks were being made in a factory in Jabapur, and cost only Rs.30 lakh. He had questioned that if this was the case, why were Tatra trucks which are 4×4s were being purchased for Rs.65 lakh.

He also presented the letter to media persons.

“On May 30, 2008, the defence minister had replied and assured me that there would be an inquiry into the matter. However, he did not do that. Later, even after becoming the defence minister a second time, he did not order an inquiry,” alleged the Jabalpur MP.

The BJP MP also stated that the Tatra scam was worth Rs.3000 crore. He demanded that the defence minister should have been dismissed as he had not taken any action on the issue.

However, Singh did not answer as to why he had come up with the letter so late and did not raise the issue inside Parliament.

Jabalpur is over 350 km from state capital Bhopal. The city is the army headquarters of five states (Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand) and one sixth of its area is occupied by the Indian Army.